Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Presentation Speeds Through Information
- Susan Heavilin
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Last night at 5pm, a VMT presentation sped through the information presented while many of you were still slogging through traffic after a long work day. The material was delivered to its audience via a webinar over the internet.
County of San Diego employees Julie MarLett and Mark Slovick were the presenters. Julie is a Land Use Environmental Planning Manager and Mark is a Deputy Director at Planning and Development Services. I believe that the man identified only as Jacob was Jacob Armstrong. He's the Chief of Land Development but was pretty much the silent man in this scenario.
According to Google, Vehicle Miles Traveled measures the total number of miles driven by all vehicles within a specific region or over a specific time frame. It is used by the government and urban planners to track traffic congestion, road wear, and air quality. In some regions, VMT is being explored as a "road user charge" or VMT tax to replace declining gas tax revenues, especially as electric vehicles become more common. Commercial trucking companies must track their VMT to comply with Federal Highway Administration reporting.
It was emphasized several times during the session that this VMT was not a mileage tax or a road user tax.
I managed to get photos of the presentation for you but my notes are limited. . . who can write that fast?
Here is the slide presentation. You can enlarge the slides by clicking on the images. That will take you to a place where you can just flip through the seminar. But then you'll miss all my clever comments!
The presenters stated that the County had an interest in developing the unincorporated areas.
It is expensive in unincorporated areas so I believe they said they will be applying for a grant. But my notes are unclear on this.
This slide caught my attention. Seven years passed from the SB 743 being signed into law in 2013 until VMT was put into effect in 2020. They must have gotten stuck in traffic.
Before VMT, they used LOS which stands for Level Of Service. According to the County of San Diego website, they transitioned their land use and transportation analysis from Level of Service (LOS) to Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) to comply with California Senate Bill (SB) 743. Senate Bill 743 is a law that overhauled how transportation impacts are evaluated under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
The state mandated this shift for the following key reasons:
Climate Action: LOS measured how long cars idled at intersections, which often resulted in widening roads. Widening roads only induced more traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.
Encouraging Smart Growth: VMT measures the amount and distance people drive, pushing developers to build housing and businesses closer together to reduce reliance on cars
The Case Law (2024) supported 15853 with LOS. "The Fourth District Invalidated San Diego County's 'Infill' and 'Small Project' VMT Screening Thresholds as Lacking Substantial Evidence Support."
Box four (dark blue) discusses land use changes in connection with VMT Mitigation. They're just checking off the boxes to get to development.
You can access the study they did by using the QR Code above.
Do you think they used the T-Rex icon because they thought it was cute or is it an omen of unincorporated areas being eaten up in the future?
Transit Opportunity Areas (TOA) will be used to increase density in unincorporated areas, using infill under AB 130 and land use analysis to identify areas. During our former Supervisor's (Nora Vargas) term, the Board of Supervisors voted on September 28, 1922 for an infill area in Bonita. The vote was 4-1, with Jim Desmond being a "no" vote.
Note that "297 parcels have been located for targeted land uses."
Next is a presentation to the Board of Supervisors on June 10, 2026. Framework engagement starts immediately after that with a Framework Options Hearing taking place in the Winter of 2026/2027.
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The eleven slide presentation (fourteen if you count the progression of slide 6) was supposed to take 15 minutes but it was done much faster. The entire webinar was completed in 41 minutes and that was after a substantial Q&A period.
Two people couldn't communicate due to serious feedback static over-riding their words. There was no audio person present to correct the situation so the two people were told to submit their questions in writing on the CHAT. Presenters would read their questions.
Approximately 20-25 persons watched the webinar. I was familiar with only one name.
I was surprised that not one board member from our Sweetwater Community Planning Group was onboard, not even the chairperson. I would think this VMT would be a topic the community should be told about so they would be aware of changes coming to our villages and unincorporated community.
